Jerusalem Issue Briefs-The Mayor's Vision for Jerusalemhttp://jcpa.org/...age.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID=4464&TTL=The_Mayor%27s_Vision_for_Jerusalem[12/19/2010 10:22:08 AM]
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Home»Jerusalem Issue Briefs» The Mayor's Vision for Jerusalem
by Nir Barkat
Published August 2010
Vol. 10, No. 5 1 August 2010
The Mayor's Vision for
Mayor Nir Barkat Jerusalem has a population of 800,000 people today, which willgrow to a million people twenty years from now. The currentpopulation ratio is one-third Muslim, two-thirds Jewish, and twopercent Christian. In the next twenty years, we anticipate a needfor 50,000 apartments - one-third for the Arab population and two-thirds for the Jewish population.The vision I have for the city is to return Jerusalem to the role itplayed two and three thousand years ago as a world center - adestination for pilgrims and believers throughout the world. I meetpeople on my travels who say in an apologetic way that they havenot yet been to Jerusalem, that it is a place they would like to visitat least once in their lifetime.Our vision is to develop Jerusalem so it can fulfill that role - todevelop tourism, to be a cultural center, and to exploit the spiritualpotential of the Holy City. My goal is to reach ten million tourists ayear a decade from now.I told the American administration that I hope nobody is actuallyexpecting that a building freeze will happen in Jerusalem or that afreeze should be only for the Jewish population. This would beillegal in Israel and unconstitutional in most democratic countriesaround the world.Jerusalem must stay united. There is not one example in the worldof a divided city that ever worked. We have to upgrade the qualityof life for all residents, and we must keep Jerusalem undivided.
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Jerusalem Issue Briefs-The Mayor's Vision for Jerusalemhttp://jcpa.org/...age.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID=4464&TTL=The_Mayor%27s_Vision_for_Jerusalem[12/19/2010 10:22:08 AM]
I Am a Jerusalemite
I am a Jerusalemite who spent fifteen years in the high-tech sector, takingIsraeli companies and ideas into the global marketplace. I retired sevenyears ago, and since then have been working for a shekel a yearpromoting and developing the city of Jerusalem.Two thousand years ago there was already over a thousand years ofJewish history in Jerusalem. Two-thirds of the Old Testament happenedhere. Everywhere you put a shovel in the ground in Jerusalem you willfind Jewish roots going back two and three thousand years.Jerusalem has a population of 800,000 people today, which will grow to amillion people twenty years from now. The current population ratio is one-third Muslim, two-thirds Jewish, and two percent Christian. We anticipatethat growth will be proportional to the current ratio, and all municipalplanning is derived from that assumption.While Jerusalem is the heart and soul of the Jewish people and thecapital of Israel, it is also important for over 3.4 billion Christians andMuslims throughout the world.
A Potential for Ten Million Tourists a Year
The vision I have for the city is to return Jerusalem to the role it playedtwo and three thousand years ago as a world center - a destination forpilgrims and believers throughout the world. I meet people on my travelswho say in an apologetic way that they have not yet been to Jerusalem,that it is a place they would like to visit at least once in their lifetime. Ourvision is to develop Jerusalem so it can fulfill that role - to developtourism, to be a cultural center, and to exploit the spiritual potential of theHoly City.While Jerusalem hosts just over two million tourists a year, my goal is toreach ten million a decade from now. Paris, London, Rome, and NewYork have over 40 million tourists a year. By increasing the number oftourists that visit the city, we will gain on a number of fronts. First, we willgain ten million ambassadors. People who come to the City of Davidexcavations or the Western Wall tunnels, or who travel to the holy sites,whether they be Christians, Muslims, or Jews, if they come with an openmind, they will understand the power of the city of Jerusalem. Manypeople have the Bible in their homes, where Jerusalem is mentionedmany times.Ten million tourists a year is the equivalent of 140,000 new jobs for thecity, and this is relevant for both the Jewish and the Arab populations. Itis one of the ways to get Jerusalem out of its poverty. It is an economicincentive that can unite many people around a common vision.Exploiting the potential of the city is also a good way to fight emigration.We have learned that when people have good jobs, they will stay in thecity, enabling stability. There is room for everyone in Jerusalem - Arabs,Jews, ultra-Orthodox, and secular - and we have to develop the city in away that will enable the different populations to stay and enjoy the powerof the city.
Jerusalem Issue Briefs-The Mayor's Vision for Jerusalemhttp://jcpa.org/...age.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID=4464&TTL=The_Mayor%27s_Vision_for_Jerusalem[12/19/2010 10:22:08 AM]
Making a Wall-to-Wall Coalition Work
Let me share some of the methodology of how I work in the city ofJerusalem. We have a council of 31 members and in the first month Iformed a coalition that included 30 members, which was unprecedented.In a way Jerusalem is a microcosm of what is happening in the country,and I believe that forming relationships between the leadership of theultra-Orthodox community and the secular, and sitting together onpractically every problem that arises, brings solutions to the problems. Noteveryone is always happy with the decisions we make, but themethodology of sitting together and focusing on the common denominatorworks.The way I manage the municipality is not political but through professionalmanagement, where we share thoughts and bring professional solutions inthe same way as when I managed in the business world. After a year asmayor, I can tell you that this does work.
Developing a Unique City
Because Jerusalem is a 3,000-year-old city, we have patches uponpatches of history about which we have to be very considerate. There areover 3,000 buildings designated for preservation in the city of Jerusalem.At the moment we do not have the correct ratio between business andresidential areas, and there is a large gap in terms of buildings for publicneeds, such as schools, synagogues, and community centers. In the past,in western Jerusalem, too many building permits were issued to changeareas designated for hotels and commerce into residential projects,whereas in eastern Jerusalem, too many neighborhoods were builtillegally at a rate with which the municipality and the government couldnot keep up. When new neighborhoods were built illegally, this created ahuge gap in infrastructure, including roads, public buildings, and publicland.The average income of Jews in Jerusalem is about $16,000 a year. In thecenter of Israel, this figure is approaching $30,000 a year. The averageincome for Arabs in Jerusalem is about $4,000 a year, but in the WestBank it is less than $1,000 a year. When a young Jewish graduate fromHebrew University sees that the job market is not strong in the city, hemigrates out of Jerusalem. However, when the Arabs in the West Banksee that the job market in Jerusalem is so much better than where theylive, this encourages Arab migration into Jerusalem.We are now concentrating on implementing the master plan for Jerusalemwhich has been developed over the past decade under theadministrations of former Mayors Olmert, Lupoliansky, and myself. Themaster plan has been publicly discussed for five years in the local anddistrict planning committees, and now practically everyone is workingaccording to this plan, although it is not yet official. The plan includesexpansion of residential areas in Jerusalem, including the naturalexpansion of existing neighborhoods. We intend to expand Gilo andRamat Shlomo and other Jewish neighborhoods, as well as Arabneighborhoods such as Issawiya and A-Tur, in order to take care of theneeds of all the different sectors in Jerusalem.Two of the challenges I face are to come up with clear policies and
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The Mayor's Vision for Jerusalem
Jerusalem has a population of 800,000 people today, which will grow to a million people twenty years from now. The current population ratio is one-third Muslim, two-thirds Jewish, and two percent Christian. In the next twenty…
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